Tickets for Rest Fest 2 on sale now!

Early Bird tickets are on sale NOW for the 2nd annual Restoration Festival at St. Joe’s in downtown Albany.

Long-time readers of this blog, and especially last year’s attendees, will know that this is the one event of the year in the local music scene that I look forward to most. Last year was a blast and all indicators are that this year will top it.

The lineup of local acts thus far includes:

Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned

The Red Lions

Matthew Carefully Undone Ensemble

We Are Jeneric

The Scientific Maps

Aficionado

The Stompin Jug Ramblers

Swamp Baby

Alta Mira

Slender Shoulders

More are sure to be announced (both that I’ve heard will be confirmed soon and others to come) in the next six weeks. I’ve seen all of the aforementioned acts live and they’re all well worth the price of admission themselves.

This year also will see the inclusion of some national acts. The first is Alberquerque NM’s A Hawk and a Hacksaw (includes former Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes), an outfit that has toured with the likes of Wilco, Calexico, Andrew Bird, of Montreal, Beirut and Portishead.

Tickets can be purchased at RestFest.net. The earlier you get them, the cheaper they are: currently they’re at $15 for a day pass and only $20 for the full weekend. Not sure how long that lasts, so get ‘em now while the getting’s good.

Proceeds from the Resoration Festival go towards maintaining and renovating St. Joseph’s Church at 38 Ten Broeck, a historic gothic church. From Jack McEneny’sAlbany: Capital City on the Hudson:

To anyone approaching the city from the north or from the hills of Rensselear the ever changing skyline of the city is a wonderful site to behold. The soaring gothic revival spires of St. Joseph’s at the foot of Arbor Hill and the tower of Our Lady Help of Christians in the South End still dominate their brownstone and row house neighborhoods as they have since Victorian times.